Isaac Van Zandt

Isaac Van Zandt (10 July 1813-11 October 1847) was the Republic of Texas' ambassador to the United States from 1842 to 1845.

Biography
Isaac Van Zandt was born in Franklin County, Tennessee in 1813, and he later opened his own store in Coffeeville, Mississippi. In 1837, experiencing financial difficulties due to the Panic of 1837, Van Zandt decided to emigrate to the Republic of Texas, settling in Elysian Fields, Panola County in 1838 and then in Marshall, Texas in 1839. He served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1840 to 1842, when President Sam Houston appointed Van Zandt the Texan charge d'affaires in Washington DC. He entered into talks with US Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur about the United States annexing Texas in exchange for the US Navy providing protection from the Mexican Navy and the federal government assuming Texas' debts. He was instrumental in crafting the annexation of Texas in 1845, and he returned to Texas and served as a delegate to the state constitutional convention. He died of yellow fever in Houston in 1847 while campaigning for governor.